The Rena Costa Center for Yiddish Studies, a part of Bar-Ilan University

Bar-Ilan University

Bar-Ilan University is a university in Ramat Gan of the Tel Aviv District, Israel.Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is now Israel's second-largest academic institution. It has nearly 26,800 students and 1,350 faculty members...

, is dedicated to the academic study of Yiddish language

Yiddish language

Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...

 and culture. The Center’s home is in the Faculty of Jewish Studies in the Bar-Ilan University campus in Ramat Gan, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

.

Activities

The Center is the largest university center for Yiddish language instruction in the world. Every year, hundreds of Bar-Ilan University students enroll in courses in Yiddish language and culture. The Center’s distinguished Yiddish scholars are mentors to a new generation of Yiddish students. They expand the spheres of Yiddish studies through research chairs and original publications which generate renewed interest in all areas of Yiddish studies. Bar-Ilan University's Rena Costa Center is unique in its requirement that master’s and doctoral students submit their dissertations in Yiddish.

The Center conducts activities both within the university and in the outside world. Israel’s Ministry of Education has appointed Bar-Ilan University to supervise Yiddish instruction in all of Israel’s public elementary and high schools. The Rena Costa Center certifies Yiddish teachers and provides in-service programs to help them enhance and enliven their school curricula. Through the Center, hundreds of Israel schoolchildren—native Israelis, immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and children of immigrants of Ashkenazic and Sephardic heritage—learn to speak Yiddish and appreciate Yiddish culture. Many students qualify for their high school matriculation exams in Yiddish.

The Rena Costa Center participates in educating a new generation of Yiddish scholars and pedagogues to teach in communities across the globe. The Rena Costa Center distributes study guides to a wide range of educational institutions, and has conducted college-level seminars in the Yiddish language in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 and Odessa

Odessa

Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...

. In Israel, the Center brings together people from all over the world to participate in special study programs. Many of the Center’s seminars and symposia are open to the public, fostering interest and active participation by the community at large.

Libraries

The Center comprise two main libraries. The Central Yiddish Library, located on the premises of the Bar-Ilan Central Library, encompasses some 30,000 books, as well as a collection of Yiddish films and musical performances. The other, The Lasowsky-Bronstein Seminar Library, is on the premises of the Yiddish Center. It houses, among other things, the personal archives of Emma Schaver, Dina Halpern

Dina Halpern

Dina Halpern - Polish actress Jewish origin, who became famous mainly for her roles in the pre-war Jewish films and stage plays in Yiddish. Niece Ida Kaminska.- Filmography :* 1937:Vow...

, Yosef José Maurer

José Maurer

Jose Maurer was a stage and cinema actor starring mainly in the Yiddish theatre in Europe, Argentina and Israel from the early 1920s.- Biography :...

, Yitzhak Shmulevitz, Mordechai Halamish, Eliezer Podriatchik, and Rabbi Dr. Heshil Klepfish.